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John McCain is seriously considering choosing a pro-abortion-rights running mate despite vocal resistance from conservatives, with former Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) very much in the mix, close McCain advisers say.
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John McCain is seriously considering choosing a pro-abortion-rights running mate despite vocal resistance from conservatives, with former Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) very much in the mix, close McCain advisers say.

Under strong consideration: former Pennsylvania Republican Gov. Tom Ridge, and Lieberman, who was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000.

Multiple GOP sources say that party officials in Washington and in the states have been contacted by the McCain campaign in the past two weeks and asked about the fallout from such a choice. One person familiar with the calls said the party was being instructed to prepare for different candidate prototypes — including one in the mold of Lieberman, who is an independent but still caucuses with the Democrats.

One obstacle for Lieberman may be legal. A GOP official said that since he is not a Republican, Lieberman may have a challenge being certified on some state ballots.

But GOP sources say McCain and his close friend Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) still haven’t given up hope on making what some believe would be a game-changing decision by tapping Lieberman.

Lieberman’s office declined to discuss the topic. “Those questions are best left to the McCain campaign at this time,” said Erika Masonhall, Lieberman’s Senate press secretary.

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Ridge also appears to still be on the short list, GOP sources say. McCain likes the fact that Ridge is a Vietnam War hero with a working-class background. Ridge worked in the White House as Bush’s homeland security adviser before becoming Secretary of Homeland Security, and could help McCain with his further reform of the nation’s intelligence apparatus.

“He’s McCain’s kind of guy,” said a close friend of the candidate.

McCain, who in the past had said it would be hard to choose a supporter of abortion rights, told Steve Hayes of The Weekly Standard last week that he would not rule it out.

One source close to the campaign who is sympathetic to such a plan sketched out a scenario in which Lieberman was the choice.

“First, if your instinct is to run on experience, it doesn’t hurt to have a vice president who’s got it, too,” said this source, a conservative.

But more than that, according to this source, picking Lieberman would dramatically support McCain’s theme that he puts “country first” above all else.

“It would fit well into the narrative of his not having any politics in the White House,” said the source. “No more Dick Morris, no more Karl Rove — we’re governing here. It’s an easy, natural message for McCain and it implies a one-term pledge without actually saying it.”

As for the inevitable blowback from the right, this person acknowledged the convention would be “a messy week,” representing a “shock to the system of a pro-life party.”

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But would it be worth it? “The question is: On Sept. 15 or 25, is he in better shape or not?” the source asked.

McCain allies are hopeful that the candidate’s strong statement on abortion Saturday night at Rick Warren’s California church could assuage any concerns from the right-to-life community about what a supporter of abortion rights on the ticket would mean.

“I will be a pro-life president and this presidency will have pro-life policies,” McCain said at Saddleback. “That's my commitment; that's my commitment to you.”

Others in the party — including several veterans of President Bush’s past campaigns — say such a choice would be untenable and are dreading the prospect of what Lieberman, or perhaps even Ridge,would mean to a base that is already less than enthusiastic about McCain.

“Lieberman would blow things up,” said the American Conservative Union’s David Keene. “That would be like Obama picking some right-winger that agrees with him on one thing.”

As for the convention, Keene said Lieberman’s selection would set off some sort of “protest” among the party’s rank and file. Tapping Ridge, Keene said, wouldn’t be as bad, but would still “overshadow” St. Paul.

Already, one website has begun a petition aimed at dissuading McCain from tapping a supporter of abortion rights.

“Please keep Senator McCain and his key advisers in your prayers as he nears a decision on his VP pick, and please sign the petition and pass on to like-minded pro-lifers,” Billy Valentine, a young Republican and former supporter of Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback’s presidential bid, writes above the petition on “Catholics for McCain.”

How is the party of the intolerant idiot going to vote for a liberal, pro-choice, jew? John McCain is a squamous cell away from death, he looks crippled and seems to have a serious case of deminsia, and he's 72.

It seems like McCain is the candidate of Hope... he'll hope it won't be the biggest landslide in history.

Obambi should have asked his typical white person granny before he tried to use the name of Joe Biden before the VFW to bolster his own defense cred . Being a TV whore contrarian does not make you a defense expert . Sam Nunn is the real deal .

I don't get what makes Lieberman a "game-changing" pick.... What game did he change as the VP nominee in 2000, except maybe to help Gore lose Florida (by saying possibly past-due military ballots should be counted) and by a lousy debate performance against Cheney... By running for his Senate seat at the same time he was running for VP, Lieberman looked like he was hedging his bets and didn't care that much if Gore lost.... So what Democrats/independents who witnessed his performance in 2000 are going to vote for McCain now because of him? And what right-wing one-issue evangelicals are going to flock to McCain with a pro-choice Democrat on the ticket? He'll look desperate... So what game will this change? (That said, I hope he does pick Lieberman, which I see as a gift to Obama...)

Let me explain it for you, if McCain is smart enough to pick Lieberman (wink,wink), then he becomes like Phelps. And he is a guaranteed winner and next POTUS. And all of my friends like Vlad and the people that are still fighting for Hillary will be very happy, because the Obama will be defeated.